Sarah West is a somatic healing arts practitioner, writer, artist, and naturalist living amidst the wild beauty of Moab, Utah. Her work is centered in a deep listening to the body, the soul, and the unseen currents that shape a life.
Drawing from somatic healing, Internal Family Systems, parts work, dreamwork, mindfulness, soul work, depth psychology, nature-based practices, expressive arts healing, and ritual, Sarah creates spaces where people can come home to themselves, to live a life that is more alive, aligned, and deeply true.
MY PATH TO HEALING
I was raised by a single parent and grew up navigating poverty, challenging childhood experiences, and several traumatic events in adolescence. During my teenage years I left high school at 16 and spent my time wandering alone in nature. The trees, creeks, and mountains became my refuge, offering an early sense of solace and belonging. Read More
MY BACKGROUND
I bring a broad, integrative approach to healing informed by years of study, training, and personal practice. I have been seeing clients in private practice for nearly seven years.
I am a professionally registered somatic practitioner and completed five years of in-depth somatic therapy and somatic education training. I have also trained in Internal Family Systems, including a Somatic IFS program.
I studied for five years at the Eastwest Somatics Institute, where I extensively trained in somatic therapy, trauma-informed approaches, dream and imaginal explorations using symbols, and the unconscious through movement and embodied explorations, as well as nervous system repatterning, somatic tracking and attunement, expressive arts and movement-based therapies, alongside principles I have learned from Hakomi and Somatic Experiencing.
I also spent three years at the Animas Valley Institute, training as a Wild Mind Guide. There, I immersed myself in learning nature-based soul work, dream work, depth psychology, and shadow work. This training emphasized embodiment, creative expression, and ritual, helping people engage with the deeper layers of the soul and psyche, integrate fragmented parts of themselves, and uncover meaning and purpose through their connection to the natural world.
My background in mindfulness practice is extensive. I have studied at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and trained as a mindfulness meditation teacher, leading groups for over a decade in sitting and walking meditation, as well as compassionate communication practices. I have attended fifteen silent meditation retreats. I also hold three yoga teacher certifications and have taught yoga, mindful movement, and dance.
I am a seasoned wilderness guide, and have guided people in wilderness settings, including facilitating ceremonial wilderness vigils (commonly known as vision quests) and retreats both individually and in groups.
My cross-cultural studies of indigenous wisdom traditions include time learning from Bushmen healers in the Kalahari Desert and time spent with Australian Aboriginal elders. These experiences are informed by my academic background in anthropology and human evolutionary ecology.
Through fieldwork as a trained archaeologist, and personal ethnographic experiences and study, I have developed a comprehensive understanding of how many traditional cultures understand community, spirit, body, land, and ancestors as inseparable aspects of human wellbeing. This animistic worldview, in which humans exist within a living field of relationships that includes ancestors, spirit beings, animals, plants, and living landscapes, continues to inform my approach to healing work
TRAININGS & CERTIFICATIONS
SARAH WEST is a Registered Somatic Healing Arts Practitioner and Educator through ISMETA
Somatic Healing
Somatic Therapy Training Program with Sondra Fraleigh at Eastwest Somatics Institute (2015-2020)
Nervous System Repatterning, Expressive Arts Healing, Excavation of Body Memory, Trauma-Informed Therapy Approaches, Ecosomatics, Dance Movement Therapy, Movement Imagery. Dancing Dreams, Butoh, Focusing, Contact Unwinding, Effective Communication, Authentic Movement, and Mindfulness, Somatic Education Training, Land-to-Water Yoga Training (500 hours), Somatic Bodywork Training (Feldenkrais, Craniosacral, The Alexander Technique)
Internal Family Systems (IFS): Parts Work
IFS Therapy Certification IFSCA Training with Derek Scott (2021)
Working with Unattached Burdens in IFS Therapy with Robert Falconer (2021)
Healing Medical Syndromes using IFS with Lissa Rankin and Dick Schwartz (2021)
Somatic Parts Work Certification with Francis Booth (2021)
IFS Circle: An introductory online program (2020)
Animas Valley Institute: Nature-based Soul Work
Wild Minds Training Program (2019-2021)
Soulcentric Dreamwork, Coming Home to an Animate World, Wild Minds, The Art of Mirroring and Council, Courting the Muse, Soulcraft, and Wilderness Quest, Shadow Work Training
Co-led Animas Valley Institute group Wilderness Quest (2021)
Somatic Experiencing: Body-Centered Healing
Principles of Somatic Experiencing (2020)
Healing Trauma: Restoring the wisdom of the body with Peter Levine
Yoga as a Neurobiological-based Therapeutic Strategy with Joann Lutz
Polyvagal Institute: Nervous System Theory
Polyvagal Theory: A Neuroscience View Explaining Reactions to Safety and Threat with Dr. Stephen Porges, course (2019)
Hakomi Institute: Somatic Healing
Somatic Trauma Healing with the Hakomi Method with Manuela Mischke-Reeds (2020)
Hakomi Mindful Psychotherapy: An Experimental Introduction (2020)
Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training with Tara Brach & Jack Kornfield (2019)
Mindfulness of Race, Retreat with Ruth King (2019)
Led the Zion Canyon Meditation Group, facilitated weekly sitting meditation, mindful walking, mindful eating, and compassionate communication (2014-2020)
Participated in 15 multi-day mindfulness meditation silent retreats (2014-2020)
Yoga
Spirit Rock Yoga Teacher Training Program, 200 hours with Djuna Devereaux, Tias Little, Leslie Booker, and Ann Cushman (2019)
Eastwest Somatics Institute Yoga Teacher Training, 500 hours Somatic Land-to-Water Yoga
Gaia Tree Yoga Teacher Training, 200 hours, Springdale, Utah
Dance
Studied and practiced various forms of dance including: Modern Dance, Butoh, Metamorphic Dance, Authentic Movement, Ecosomatic Dance, 5Rhythms, and Contact Improv (2000-2025)
Wilderness First Responder
Wilderness Medicine of Utah, weeklong WFR intensive with Brian Essig (2023)
Wilderness First Responder Re-certification (2024)
PERSONAL PRACTICES
My life has been deeply enriched by years of engaging in mind-body, earth-based, somatic, artistic, and contemplative practices.
This includes my exploration of body-centered meditation and yoga for embodied presence, and dance to access the hidden language of my soul.
Living as an artist has taught me about the potency of creative expression—for healing, discovery, and the inherent wisdom held within each person.
My close bond with the earth, the spiritual dimension of nature, and my kinship with the animate world, has offered me belonging, guidance, and wisdom.
My devotion to my soul’s path has been profoundly shaped by time in wilderness and embarking on regular solo wilderness vigils.
And my dedication to my personal healing, beauty-making, and living a life with meaning and reciprocity further informs all that I do.
Together, these practices inform how I hold space for others—with presence, depth, and deep respect for each person’s inner wisdom.
“The doors to the world of the wild Self are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door, if you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.”
—Clarissa Pinkola Estés
LET’S WORK TOGETHER
-zoom or in-person-
Receive support with inner critics, people pleasing, self-sabotage, unprocessed pain, and more.
Repair your nervous system and find clarity, calm, and confidence.
Connect to your intuition and live from a place of deep knowing and trust.
Remember your essential nature and embody your unique gifts.
Nurture your inner resources and transform limiting beliefs.
Restore kinship with nature, your body, and the living world.
“Sarah West is an endless river of love, compassion, and wisdom. She cares deeply for the earth and all life and dedicates her life to helping others. Love is the power that drives her and love is what she gives. Working with her is to work with a great soul with a great heart and is a huge privilege.”
-Micheal Philips, Nature Advocate and Artist
KIND WORDS
“As I approached the most sacred work of my lifetime, I felt a strong call to work with Sarah. I knew I was going to need wise, brave, fierce support for it. She understood and deeply championed my life and work in ways I didn't anticipate: her capacity to speak to my inner world is extraordinary. The way she supports my most authentic voice to emerge has been more powerful than I could have imagined. The cocoon of trust she offers, alongside her dreamwork and use of internal family systems, have helped me transform my life. She helped me unearth my deepest callings in ways I could not have done without her help.”
—Racheal
“Beyond her impressive knowledge, Sarah's true gift lies in her exceptional listening skills and compassionate heart. Her calming presence exudes genuine care, creating a safe space for me to heal my trauma wounds. She's also a phenomenal teacher who empowered me with tools to regulate my nervous system, help my anxiety, and navigate my new relationship with more ease. If you're seeking a practioner who combines skill with genuine empathy, Sarah is a true gem."
—Deborah
“I've been doing online healing work with Sarah for 6 months and during this time, she's helped me get in touch with the part of me who yearns to commune with the wild. There's something very special about the way Sarah relates with the Earth, and I knew she would be a powerful wilderness vigil guide. She prepared me generously for my vigil beforehand - always deferring to me, my soul calling, and my instincts. I felt so wholly supported, encouraged, and championed by this badass, loving, gifted, and experienced woman! The wilderness quest has changed my life in countless ways I'll be discovering for years to come."
—Jacqui
“Sarah is a natural intuitive with decades of experience in her craft. She weaves body—based methods together with the deep imagination work, IFS, trauma healing, and the natural world in a way that opens up healing like nothing I’ve experienced before. Her sense of where to go next, what to linger with a bit longer, and what question might open the door to the next step is really attuned. I highly recommend working with Sarah!”
-Kristopher
DISCLAIMER
Sarah West is not a licensed psychotherapist, medical doctor, or healthcare professional. She does not diagnose mental illness or disease. Somatic Healing Arts should not be considered a substitute for mental health psychotherapy or medical intervention.
"The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile at the other's welcome.”
— DEREK WALCOTT